Friday, December 23, 2016

Cassie's Journal - December 23, 2016

Two more sleeps until Christmas; and we’re
officially on our Christmas holidays for the next two weeks!We’re also having a sleepover here with our
best friends, and I’m doing this update during our break between working the
close shift at the Inn and our first Christmas movie of the night; so I’ll need
to keep it as short as possible.

We’ve had a dash of rain here and there
today, but that didn’t get in the way of anything important before or after
school; and the temperatures climbed into the forties again today – on the way
to the sixties for Christmas Day.The
chances of a white Christmas are pretty much zero now; but maybe we’ll see a
few snowflakes on Christmas Eve day before the big, one-day-only warm-up to
fall or spring warm.

Mom and Dad went with another hot breakfast
today; and we played while at school – whether that was holiday fun in our
morning classes or while we had our Christmas parties in the afternoon.We were also set free early; so Michael and I
had time to hang out with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden before getting ready
for our dinner-to-close shift at the Inn to help out with the Christmas parties
and normal Friday night business.Speaking of parties, I missed out on the Christmas party at the lab this
afternoon, but Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana were there for it; they had a lunch
buffet that Jake and Stephanie catered for them; and a gift exchange that
apparently included some nice Christmas bonuses.Violet and Dillon were happy to be included
for those bonuses; and were also glad to be set free early so they could hit
the road for Woodvale.They’ll be there
for most of the weekend; but come back in time for dinner on Sunday with his
family.Uncle Mark, Aunt Grace, and the
kids headed out of town early too; and they’ll be with her family for a
three-day weekend.While I’m thinking
about family anyway; I’ll also add that while my family and Michael’s are
having an away Christmas this year; the Johnson-McEwan clan is here for the
holiday weekend – either already in town; or will be by late tomorrow morning.

The dinner shift at the Inn was busy, but
not newsworthy.Michael and I had fun
with Jake and Stephanie again; though Rebecca and Jenny have more fun with
Stephanie while they all work the dining room together.I’m thinking about that more as I get closer
to being able to work the dining room too, but I’m trying to keep this update
shorter; so let’s not go there.One good
thing about the holiday weekend is that most diners were at the Inn early and
we didn’t have a late rush when people either needed to hit the road or be home
to welcome incoming guests; so we were done with the clean-up by nine o’clock.Michael stopped for his overnight bag on the
way to my house; I came on ahead; and Rowen and Tim were already here – and helping
our four junior sleepover buddies with getting the lounge set up for the
Christmas movie marathon.They have the
movies picked out; the snacks and drinks are ready; and we’ll start the first
show as soon as we’re all ready for bed and back in the lounge.

I could be last to get there if I don’t
hurry, so let’s do the Christmas music video pick; and then I’m out of here.I’m going with another Christmas classic with
an a Cappella take on the song – and my favorite for this year from this
country band.